This book is about the human geography of one of America's most paradoxical and enigmatic regions: Appalachia, providing the reader with an adequate description and evaluation of the land and its resources, people, and economy.

Although Appalachia has long been recognized as one of the most distinctive subregions in North America and has been studied widely as an "underdeveloped problem area," this book is the first to provide a comparative and analytical geographical perspective on the entire Appalachian region rather than on portions of it. The authors highlight the div

With more than fifty distilleries in the state, bourbon is as synonymous with Kentucky as horses and basketball. As one of the commonwealth's signature industries, bourbon distilling has influenced the landscape and heritage of the region for more than two centuries. Blending several topics -- tax revenue, railroads, the mechanics of brewing, geography, landscapes, and architecture -- this primer and geographical guide presents a detailed history of the development of Kentucky's distilling industry. Nineteenth-century distilling changed from an artisanal craft practiced by farmers and millers to a large-scale mechanized industry that practiced increasingly refined production techniques. Distillers often operated at comparatively remote sites -- the "backroads" -- to take advantage of water sources or transport access. Some distillers adopted mechanization and the steam engine, forgoing water power -- a change that permitted geographical relocation of distilleries away from traditional sites along creeks or at large springs to urban or rural rail-side sites. Based on extensive archival research that includes private paper collections, newspapers, and period documents, this work places the distilling process in its environmental, geographical, and historical context. Bourbon's Backroads reveals the places where bourbon's heritage was made -- from old and new distilleries, storage warehouses, railroad yards, and factories where copper fermenting vessels are made -- and why the industry continues to thrive.

While other industries chase after the new and improved, bourbon makers celebrate traditions that hearken back to an authentic frontier craft. Distillers enshrine local history in their branding and time-tested recipes, and rightfully so. Kentucky's unique geography shaped the whiskeys its settlers produced, and for more than two centuries, distilling bourbon fundamentally altered every aspect of Kentucky's landscape and culture. Making Bourbon: A Geographical History of Distilling in Nineteenth-Century Kentucky illuminates how the specific geography, culture, and ecology of the Bluegrass converged and gave birth to Kentucky's favorite barrel-aged whiskey. Expanding on his fall 2019 release Bourbon's Backroads, Karl Raitz delivers a more nuanced discussion of bourbon's evolution by contrasting the fates of two distilleries in Scott and Nelson Counties. In the nineteenth century, distilling changed from an artisanal craft practiced by farmers and millers to a large-scale mechanized industry. The resulting infrastructure - farms, mills, turnpikes, railroads, steamboats, lumberyards, and cooperage shops - left its permanent mark on the land and traditions of the commonwealth. Today, multinational brands emphasize and even construct this local heritage. This unique interdisciplinary study uncovers the complex history poured into every glass of bourbon.

While other industries chase after the new and improved, bourbon makers celebrate traditions that hearken back to an authentic frontier craft. Distillers enshrine local history in their branding and time-tested recipes, and rightfully so. Kentucky's unique geography shaped the whiskeys its settlers produced, and for more than two centuries, distilling bourbon fundamentally altered every aspect of Kentucky's landscape and culture. Making Bourbon: A Geographical History of Distilling in Nineteenth-Century Kentucky illuminates how the specific geography, culture, and ecology of the Bluegrass converged and gave birth to Kentucky's favorite barrel-aged whiskey. Expanding on his fall 2019 release Bourbon's Backroads, Karl Raitz delivers a more nuanced discussion of bourbon's evolution by contrasting the fates of two distilleries in Scott and Nelson Counties. In the nineteenth century, distilling changed from an artisanal craft practiced by farmers and millers to a large-scale mechanized industry. The resulting infrastructure -- farms, mills, turnpikes, railroads, steamboats, lumberyards, and cooperage shops -- left its permanent mark on the land and traditions of the commonwealth. Today, multinational brands emphasize and even construct this local heritage. This unique interdisciplinary study uncovers the complex history poured into every glass of bourbon.

The first comprehensive atlas of the state published in over 20 years, the Atlas of Kentucky brings together a wealth of information on the geography, industry, economy, development, and people of the Commonwealth. Includes over 600 maps and 200 color illustrations. Richard Ulack, professor and former chair of the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky and former State Geographer, is author of Atlas of Southeast Asia and co-editor of Lexington and Kentucky's Inner Bluegrass Region. Kentucky State Geographer Karl Raitz, professor and current chair of the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky, is the editor of The National Road and co-author of Appalachia: A Gegional Geography. Gyula Pauer, former director of the Center for Cartography and Geographic Information at the University of Kentucky, has served as cartographer for numerous publications, including Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the U.S. Congress and The Himalayan Kingdoms.